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WickedsDesire -> California to extend tough climate law (7/18/2017 11:38:47 AM)
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California votes to extend cap-and-trade climate law to 2030
California legislators have voted to extend a law to cut carbon emissions, weeks after President Donald Trump said the US would withdraw from the Paris climate accord.
The policy, which requires firms to purchase permits to release pollutants, will be extended to the year 2030.
California Governor Jerry Brown said Republicans and Democrats had taken "courageous action" with the move.
The US state aims to cut greenhouse gases by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030.
"Tonight, California stood tall and once again, boldly confronted the existential threat of our time," Mr Brown said in a statement on Monday. "That's what good government looks like," he added.
However, the vote to extend the cap-and-trade programme beyond 2020 was opposed by some conservatives who said the measure would hit the poor by increasing prices for fuel and food.
California State Senator Andy Vidak said it represented a "regressive" tax that would not make any impact on climate change.
"We could shut down the entire state of California and it would have no effect on the global climate," Mr Vidak said.
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After hours of negotiations on Monday, California's State Assembly finally voted 55 to 21 to put the legislation forward to Mr Brown.
The move puts the most populous US state at odds with Mr Trump, who said last month that he was withdrawing the US from the 2015 Paris climate agreement with the aim of negotiating a new "fair" deal that would not disadvantage US businesses.
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